Dominion holds groundbreaking ceremony for Brunswick Power Station

Dominion Virginia Power held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for its $1.3 billion Brunswick County Power Station. Construction on the power station, projected by Dominion to generate $824 million in economic activity statewide, began last fall.

“The Brunswick County Power Station's capital investment of $1.3 billion represents the largest single investment in our county's history," Brunswick County Administrator Charlette T. Woolridge, said in a statement. "This investment results in a 45 percent increase in our general property taxes. With these additional revenues, we can ensure that we have stronger schools that will provide our children with the solid foundation necessary for rewarding careers and lucrative incomes; and make it easier for us to provide other valuable public services to our citizens."

The combined-cycle power station was approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission last August. The station will replace electricity from aging coal-fired power stations that are being retired for economic and environmental reasons.

The station is currently about 17 percent complete, Dominion said in a news release. There currently are almost 600 workers on site, a number expected to grow to more than 1,000 by the fall.

The Brunswick County Power Station will use natural gas to fire three combustion turbines – essentially super-sized jet engines – to generate about 810 megawatts. The heated air from the combustion turbines will be captured and used to create steam that will spin another turbine to produce about 550 megawatts. The station's total output of 1,360 megawatts can provide electricity for about 340,000 homes.

Dominion's Brunswick County Power Station is scheduled to start generating electricity by the summer 2016.